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Trone Spends Freely But Miller Has More Cash on Hand in Congressional Race

Businessman David Trone continues to spend freely from his own pocket in his bid to win a congressional seat – but is also raising money at a far greater clip than he did during his previous House race.

Yet state Del. Aruna Miller (D) had the most cash on hand as of Sept. 30 in the Democratic contest to replace U.S. Rep. John Delaney (D) in Maryland’s 6th District.

That’s the quick snapshot from the latest round of campaign finance reports, which cover the period from July 1 to Sept. 30.

The reports, which were filed to the Federal Election Commission this week, showed at least four Democratic contenders pulling in six figures during the three-month fundraising period: Trone, Miller, state Sen. Roger Manno and Nadia Hashimi, a physician and author.

Hashimi

Nadia Hashimi dropped $225,000 of her own money into her campaign.

Fundraising totals in the still-evolving Republican primary for the competitive seat, were not immediately available on the FEC website Monday night.

Trone, who spent $13.4 million on his unsuccessful bid in the 8th congressional district last cycle, reported taking in $792,096 in the third quarter of the year. That included $748,939 from his own bank account, meaning he collected about $43,000 from outside sources – far surpassing what he raised for his 2016 campaign.

Trone, co-owner of Total Wine & More, plans to raise money more aggressively for this campaign to succeed Delaney, who is leaving Congress to run for president. His donors since July include fellow corporate CEOs along with several lawyers.

But even though Trone reported more receipts than any of the other Democrats running, he was not the leader in cash on hand. He had $56,853 in the bank, after spending more than $735,000 this year – much of it paid to pollster Harrison Hickman.

Miller had the most cash on hand: $525,176. She raised $204,297 in the third quarter, and spent just $30,445 during that period. Miller has been endorsed by Emily’s List, the fundraising powerhouse that works to elect pro-choice Democratic women, which contributed $5,000 to her campaign.

But could Hashimi, who is Afghan-American, represent a threat to Miller, who is Indian-American? Hashimi, who announced her candidacy only recently, reported $286,057 in receipts – including $225,000 from her own pocket. Hashimi did not spend a dime during the fundraising period, putting her second in the field in cash on hand.

Manno, whose major contributors include labor unions, reported $202,165 in receipts from July 1 to Sept. 30. He spent $31,386 and had $170,778 in the bank.

Andrew Duck, an Iraq War veteran who was the Democratic nominee in the 6th District in 2006 and 2010, reported $11,000 on hand as of Sept. 30.

The Republican race is largely in a holding pattern pending an official announcement from Amie Hoeber, a former Reagan administration official who was the GOP nominee against Delaney. Hoeber is expected to run again – she told a Garrett County Republican gathering over the weekend that she will be a candidate.

But she has not formally created a campaign committee and has not begun raising money. Hoeber is personally wealthy and also benefited in 2016 from a super political action committee funded almost entirely by her husband, Mark Epstein.

Assuming she runs, Hoeber will face former state Del. Mathew Mossburg of Frederick County and two political newcomers, talent scout Lisa Lloyd and airline pilot Bradley Rohrs in the Republican primary. Only Mossburg has filed an FEC report, showing he raised $10,000.

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Trone Spends Freely But Miller Has More Cash on Hand in Congressional Race